Russia drone ignites Turkish tanker inferno just inches from NATO soil, forces Romanian exodus

A Russian drone strike in Ukraine’s Izmail port on the Danube River has set off alarm across NATO, as the attack hit the Turkish-flagged LPG tanker MT Orinda, causing a massive fireball and forcing the evacuation of Romanian border villages. The incident, occurring just hours before scheduled talks between Zelensky and Turkey’s President Erdoğan, came amid a wider Russian barrage involving ballistic missiles and decoy drones, some of which breached Romanian airspace, prompting Romania and Poland to mobilize air power in response. The Danube, now a critical corridor for Ukrainian exports, has become a new flashpoint, with allied air forces on high alert and reports that Russia’s strike may have been retaliation for Ukraine’s new gas deal with Greece.